Fiona Sinclair's new pamphlet is published by 'Original Plus' Publications, which I think is an apt description for the kind of writing that this publisher brings out, and Fiona's does not disappoint. As in her previous collection, A Game of Hide and Seek (Indigo Dreams, 2012), Fiona writes with fearsome honesty abut expectations and appearances. Here, she takes us on a journey through internet dating:

These wry snapshots are interspersed with poems that poignantly explore the poet's relationships with both her parents, particularly her mother. Other poems look, with the same imaginative precision, at pets, proms, and clocks.

I particularly liked the realisations that the memories that stay longer in our minds are not necessarily the ones we expect to remember:

'For years, dreams familiar as TV repeats,
not of the boy, but the jilted A'levels.'

The 'House' of the title is pretty much a main 'character' in the novel, so if you'd like a chance to enter the prize draw, and are 12 years old or over, send me your photo, (or a photo of your drawing or painting) of your own favourite building. You will then be automatically entered into the prize draw.

All photos will appear on my blog as a 'blog post special' on the publication date of 22nd September, so you'll be published, too!

My email is delayed_reactions@yahoo.co.uk, or if you are already my friend on Facebook, you can contact me there. As I get a lot of spam emails, please send your work in the body of the email itself, rather than in an attachment, if you can, between now and the 20th September. Good luck!

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

I've been a fan of Ken Champion's work for quite a while now, and have enjoyed his collected stories and poems in these two publications. The titles and cover photos alone tell you quite a lot about his themes and images.

InUrban Narratives, the compelling descriptions of (mostly) urban landscapes - trains, cafes, parks, streets, graveyards, cinemas, plus kitchens and poetry readings - ground the restlessness and defiance of Ken's characters. This allows him to explore the themes of social mobility, death, relationships, and coping with the unexpected reactions of others:

'she, in a department store, disappearing, and him, unguarded, panicking, intellectually knowing that it was the child in him being left by mummy - no emotions are new'(Fracture)

There are thirty stories in this collection. Around half of them feature the recurring character of James Kent, a psychoanalyst who questions his choice of profession: these are interspersed with stories told from other points of view. My personal favourites were 'The Beat Years' and 'Educating Rita', which could both have had escapist endings for Chris, the narrator, but consciously didn't, which made them all the more authentic.

The beauty of a short story is that it doesn't have to tie up every loose end, and several of the stories contain coincidences that leave us wondering. They often contain hard truths:

'the equation being that if he looked fit and tanned then he wouldn't age, ergo, wouldn't die. It was a subject he'd never studied: the psychology of death.'(Lay Preacher)

Cameo Metrocontains new poems, and poems from Ken's previous collections, African Time (Tall Lighthouse, 2002), Cameo Poly (Tall Lighthouse, 2004), and But Black and White is Better (Tall Lighthouse, 2008). There are six sections, each on a different theme: City, African, Retro, Americana, Theatre, and Rewind. Ken is very good at writing about frustration and broken promises, often with dark humour, and this is a poet who understands the value of phrasing, especially how to use punctuation, line endings, and enjambment to increase tension.

Friday, August 08, 2014

This is an A6 size,
fifteen page pamphlet, just right for slipping into a pocket or a
handbag. The lively cover is pink and bubbly, contrasting with the
mention of drowning. Many of the ten poems in this collection have been
previously placed in competitions or published in respectable
magazines.

Shanta is also a novelist for young adults, and as well as poems about family, relationships, and
motherhood, she explores teenage friendships and crushes to show how
private moments often take place in public:

'...I cut the others
off

and wait till they walk
out laughing, to take you to the counter.'

(Shrine to Justin)

Some of the titles,
'Old Dear', 'Girl's World,' also present us with everyday images that
are subverted imaginatively in the poems:

'I make toffee apples
of her cheeks,

her eyes a crinkly
purple like fading bruises'

(Girl's World)

Bedouin Books is an
American publisher, and from this British reviewer's perspective,
there is a new vein of fresh poetic voices in the States at the
moment, such as Alison Stine, Jordan Davis, and Edward Nudelman. Like
these poets, Shanta takes situations that appear ordinary to the
casual observer, and floods them with intensity and intimacy, often
using longer lines and enjambment to keep us in the moment.

The poem
'Aquatic Alice', in fact, could be a fitting description of how
Shanta's imagery look closely at the reality of a situation:

About Joanna

This blog has been running since 2007 and has been archived by the British Library. I have a young adult novel, 'The Inside-Out House', published by Indigo Dreams, and two poetry collections, 'Centuries of Skin' (Ragged Raven) and 'Homecoming' (Valley Press, due April 2016). I am a creative writing tutor for the Open University and am completing my second young adult novel.